Apostate prophet protests; Jews and Christians, a ransom for Muslims?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

5:36"if they had what is in the earth, all of it, and the like of it with it, that they might ransom themselves with it from the punishment of the day of resurrection, it shall not be accepted from them"

Talking about ransoms, If the next life turns out to be the one depicted in this Quran, that youtuber would be the first to seek for any type of ransom to ward off the deserved punishment of that crushing day.

As to the hadith he clumsily alludes to, to properly understand it, a few Quran principles need to be established. In 2:24 it states that the men themselves will be the fuel of Hell, to keep the fire burning, and to get themselves burned in that fire. This concept is alluded to repeatedly 21:98. That is because the energy a person expends in this world for any given action is converted to matter in the Hereafter. On the Day of Judgement

99:6"men will appear alone so that their deeds can be shown to them"  

19:59"so they shall soon meet (the result of their) sin". 

It is the manifestation of this esoteric aspect of one's actions that causes pain or pleasure in the Hereafter and the Quran often likens the sinful actions in this world to unconscious self-chastisement

"those who swallow the property of the orphans unjustly, surely they only swallow fire into their bellies and they shall enter burning fire"  

2:174-5"those who hide aught of the Scripture which Allah hath revealed and purchase a small gain therewith, they eat into their bellies nothing else than fire...Those are they who purchase error at the price of guidance, and torment at the price of pardon. How constant are they in their strife to reach the Fire!".

These verse speak for themselves, some people are already building their place in hell through their deeds in this world and already burning in it without knowing it.
Each person therefore perfects/worsens his abode in the Hereafter through his thoughts and actions in this world. That is why the Quran speaks of the dwellers of Heaven as having inherited it, they inherited the fruit of their own deeds

19:63,39:74,23:10-11,43:72"And this is the garden which you are given as an inheritance on account of what you did". 

This parallelism, actions in the material world simultaneously translated into matter in the spiritual world, finds echo in a few ahadith, where it is reported that

"When it will be the Day of Resurrection Allah would deliver to every Muslim a Jew or a Christian and say: That is your rescue from Hell-Fire".

As understood by the earliest Muslim authorities in hadith, this report is connected to other similar ones saying

"There is not one among you who does not have two places, a place in Paradise and a place in Hell". 

The elaborated meaning is thus that, as noted by the scholars and in light of the aforementioned Quran passages, those Jews and Christians are not randomly chosen, but will be the sinful disbelievers among them. The Quran repeatedly distinguishes them from the righteous of their communities deserving of reward in the Hereafter 3:113-115,5:83. These sinful Jews and Christians will take the place a Muslim had fashioned for himself in hell through his worldly actions. Some Muslims, the Quran says, not all Muslims, on the Day of Judgement will be deemed worthy of Paradise and deserving of forgiveness despite their minor sins, in light of their overwhelming good actions.

Although that person's sins will have inevitably translated into matter in the afterlife, building him a place in hell, he will not enter it since he has been absolved from his sins. This in itself does not make that abode disappear. And this leaves a feeling of uneasiness, knowing that a place in hell marked with one's name still exists. That feeling will be ransomed through the sight of another person made to enter it due to his own sins. 

The Quran speaks of several levels to hellfire, depending on actions and choice of creed. After Muslims, those closer to divine truths are Jews and Christians and hence, depending on their worldly actions can be very similar in station than a sinful Muslim. That is why the sinful among them, and not among the idolaters for example are mentioned as taking a forgiven Muslim's place in hell. Now the Quran makes it very clear, nobody in the Hereafter suffers more than his deserved punishment 2:261-274,28:84,6:160. Those taking other people's places in hell will not be downgraded and made to suffer more than what they deserve. Their total suffering, in both their own place in hell, as well as the place once reserved for a Muslim, will correspond exactly to what they deserve

"and they shall not be dealt with unjustly".

This could be achieved by removing the person from his own station of suffering, then upgrading him to a place of lighter punishment, the place once reserved to a Muslim. He will remain until the cleansing process is finished and the balance of justice is equalised. The Muslim, as already said, has avoided suffering on account of his overwhelming good deeds, not because someone has been designated to take his place in hell.

As a side note, the "ransoming" by God is not done by offering something from Himself to release the Muslims. God rather creates a situation where someone, by virtue of his own deeds, becomes another's ransom.

In a hadith, the prophet speaks of 3 types of reckoning upon the Muslims on the Day of Judgement

"One sort will enter Paradise without rendering an account. Another sort will be reckoned an easy account and admitted into Paradise. Yet another sort will come bearing on their backs heaps of sins like great mountains".

Regarding the last group the hadith continues that, as amply stated in the Quran, because of their worldly servitude and humility, their sins will be forgiven through their own good deeds 

"Allah will ask the angels though He knows best about them: Who are these people? They will reply: They are humble slaves of yours. He will say: Unload the sins from them..."

The hadith continues

"Unload the sins from them and put the same over the Jews and Christians"

As is clear, this unloading of the Muslims' sins is due to their own deeds, not because others were made to carry their burdens. The hadith authorities have understood the sins put on the Jews and Christians as other than those unloaded from the Muslims. It will be their own sins but same in nature as those the Muslims were carrying. 

These Jews and Christians are different than the righteous among them, whom the Quran repeatedly stresses will be forgiven and rewarded in the hereafter.

The prophet might have mentioned Muslims, Jews and Christians specifically because of the question/remark he was reacting to. Someone might have commented on the fate of the sinners among these 3 groups; the Muslims, if they were righteous enough will have their sins removed from them, while the Jews and Christians will carry their own sins that are similar in nature to those the Muslims were carrying. This hadith as a side note is often brought up by Christian missionaries who try to project unto Islam their own unease in regards to their illogical concepts. If, for argument's sake, the concept of ransoming someone for another's sins seems like a perverted, unjust system then what to say of God's ransoming mankind's sins through the blood of a completely sinless, innocent human being as they believe in regards to Jesus?

Apostate prophet seeks the stairways; who enters heaven?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

Those who are destined for Heaven, without undergoing any cleansing process, will not be brought anywhere near Hell. They will be so far removed from it, they will not hear the sound of its roar on the Day of Resurrection

92:17,26:90,21:98-103"Surely you and what you worship besides Allah are the firewood of hell; to it you shall come. Had these been gods, they would not have come to it and all shall abide therein. For them therein shall be groaning and therein they shall not hear. Surely (as for) those for whom the good has already gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far off from it, They will not hear its faintest sound, and they shall abide in that which their souls long for. The great fearful event shall not grieve them, and the angels shall meet them: This is your day which you were promised".

The supreme awesomness of this Day will not grieve the righteous, who shall in addition be protected from its upheaval and afflictions 2:277,21:103,88:8,76:7-11. Through a subtle linguistic device, the Quran explains this idea of the righteous believers on that day being far removed from the terror

"no fear upon them, and nor shall they grieve".

The first part of the verse pictures a caring entity looking over with full understanding of the situation without any fear while watching the scene. A practical example would be of a child who might be fearlessly playing with a snake, not knowing the impending danger but the mature person watching over, understanding the situation, would be full of fear and worry. On the last day however, because the successful will be fully justified in lacking fear and feeling secure despite the surrounding terrifying events, then the caring entity watching over wont have any fear upon them. The same phrase is used in 7:49 for the dwellers of heaven, they are in such secure conditions that none will have any reason to fear for them.

As Solomon reportedly says concerning the righteous in the life to come

Prov1:33"But he who hearkens to me shall dwell confidently and shall be tranquil from the fear of harm".

The righteous will thus proudly exclaim to all to come read from his book of deeds held in evidence in his right hand, the Iliyin 69:19,83:18,84:7. He shall be secured from harm 41:40, relieved with sustenance from heaven before entering it. The traditions speak of a Pool the water of which is from the Garden, and from which the believers shall drink before entering the Garden. Those that will be prevented from this favor on account of their sins, will long for a portion of that sustenance 7:50,19:86. They will wish for a share of the light beaming upon the righteous with such force that it will emanate from them 57:13-15. The absence of light upon the wicked on the day of judgement is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible, including in Job38:14-15.

The futur dwellers of heaven will be greeted with the best greetings by the angels and God Himself, honored and given the good news of Heaven from the moment of their earthly death 16:32,41:30 until their resurrection and entry in Heaven 7:46,13:23-4,14:23,15:45-8,21:103,36:58,39:73,56:26. This doesnt sound in anyway as if all people will be made to suffer after death as suggested by this youtuber. Once in heaven, no lewd, empty talk will be heard, only peaceful and wise speech 19:62,56:25,88:11. They will keep greeting one another and praying for eachother's peace within heaven 10:10.

On the other hand the hell dwellers, from the instant of their death where they will be violently seized by the angels and told they had been following the evil course 16:28-9,7:37,8:50,47:27 will endure a lengthy and difficult trial until they enter hell where they shall incessantly quarrel among oneanother, receive each new comer with open hostility for having influenced one another in sin 38:55-60, cursing, denying and blaming one another.

Apostate prophet fears the lasting torment; who enters hellfire?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

As to punishment in the hereafter, Only those arriving to the resurrection burdened with disbelief and so many sins they havent repented for, they will be the only ones gathered for a terrible task 25:26,54:6 as opposed to the righteous believers who in their lifetime stood in awe of such day

76:7-11"Therefore Allah will guard them from the evil of that day and cause them to meet with ease and happiness".

Consequently they, whether male or female, will never be abased or disgraced between their earthly death and final entry to heaven. Instead, once resurrected they will be shining with a light emanating from them and guiding them on the path to paradise while the rest of the world is plunged in darkness 3:194-5,57:12,66:8. They will in addition be receiving Allah's love 19:96, His individual care 76:11, they will be safe from harm 41:40 and raised in a happy state 56:8,76:11,88:8. Their faces will be bright 3:107,75:22 looking forward to Allah's promise 50:32,28:61. They wont have any grief or fear of the supreme awesomeness of that day, as they will be protected from its upheaval and afflictions, welcomed and greeted by the angels before the beginning of their judgement 2:277,16:32,21:103. They will be removed far away from hearing the faintest sound of hell 2:17,26:90,21:98-103.

The fire of hell will only be brought before the disbelievers and unrepented sinners 18:99-101, the only ones experiencing this mighty day as a great difficulty 74:8-10. This group of believers from among the Muslims and the righteous who will be safeguarded from any difficulty on that Day, does not include the criminals among the Muslims themselves whom the Quran says will enter hell and/or experience a difficult judgement. Those who rejected or disregarded most or all of the directives of the Quran when it was communicated to them (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) and who transgressed willingly and rebelliously, then despite their good actions, their measurements on the scales of deeds, on the day they are raised for judgement, these measurements will be light

23:102-103"Then as for him whose scales/mawazin are heavy, these are the successful. And as for him whose scales are light, these are they who shall have lost their souls, abiding in hell".

The Quran also clearly says that among the Muslims themselves there are different grades in God's eyes 35:32-5 and although all will eventually enter heaven, this entry will be granted differently from person to person following a personalized appropriate trial, going from short and easy to lengthy and difficult.

Some will even have to pass through Hell as long as Allah deems fit before being granted entry in heaven 6:128,11:106-108 and the Quran has mentionned several crimes such as murder, corruption of inheritance, abusing the weak people's wealth or charity etc whose perpetrators will go to hell regardless of their faith. It is in such context that the following prophetic saying is understood

"Gabriel, upon him be peace, came to me with the good news that anyone from my nation who dies without associating partners with Allah will enter Paradise. I said, “Even if he commits adultery and theft?” The Prophet said: Even if he commits adultery and theft". Elsewhere "People among those who worshiped Allah alone (ahl al-tawh?i¯d) will be punished in the Hellfire until they are coals. Then the mercy of Allah will reach them and they will be taken out and presented at the gates of Paradise. The people of Paradise will pour water over them and they will grow just as the stubble carried by the stream grows, then they will enter Paradise".

People will be divided into 3 groups; the foremost in faith who will have precedence over the others and will be drawn close to God (more from old times than later times 56:13-14), the righteous (more from the old as well as late times 56:40) and the wrongdoers 56:7-11. This shows that the communities and groups that have been formed in the world on the basis of race, country, language, tribe and clan, and economic and political interests, will break, and the people will be re-grouped on the basis of true belief, morality and character.

Each group will have to answer to a different level of reckoning, going from fast and easy to difficult and lengthy. The first group wont be reproached for their minor sins and shortcomings, will be forgiven and redeemed through their good deeds. Once made to enter paradise, the reward awaiting them will be made to match not any deed, but the best of them at least. Then by God's grace their reward will be made to surpass what is proportionaly due to them 6:160,16:96-7,29:7,39:35,46:16,84:8. It is clear that in Islam, the righteous' good deeds in themselves are not what grant him salvation in the hereafter. They serve as a measure of a person's faith in God. It is then God's grace that translates exponentially that level of faith, whose indicator are the deeds, into reward in the hereafter.

On the other hand, others will be requited for the worst of their deeds, all the bad that they accumulated, including the smallest sins. These small sins wont be forgiven immidiately as with the previous group 13:21,46:16,74:38-9 hence their lengthy and difficult reckoning 13:18,41:27,74:9-10. This minute, but just requital will fall upon them on a day like a crushing weight 75:25. The ahadith speak of people coming on the plain of judgement carrying their sins that will physically materialize as mountain like burdens on their backs.

They will be reprimended for every one of their misdeeds, great or small. Depending on each case, that requital will occur starting from their earthly death, in the intermediary period that precedes the resurrection, meaning the barzakh. It will go on during the Resurrection and Hell if necessary, before they are finally granted forgiveness and potential entry in Heaven. Some will certainly have to go through the last stage, dwelling in Hell, before they are purged from their sins but others will be cleansed through prior processes. As God says elsewhere even in reference to the followers of the devil himself

7:18"Whoever of them follows you, I will surely fill Hell with some/min of you all".

This is because each person's circumstances that lead him to follow a certain path are different. Only God is capable of integrating such intricacies in a perfect individual judgement. The vast majority of mankind will have to undergo one of, or a combination of these stages of requital -the grave, the resurrection, and hell- while a tiny fraction will enter heaven without rendering any account.  This is the idea behind the prophet's reported statement that from among Adam's progeny 99% of mankind will be singled out for hell. It doesnt however say that these 99% will all be made to enter it, just that they will certainly deserve it. As said above, some will have to go through it while others will sufficiently be retributed and cleansed through prior processes.

Apostate prophet's fantasies; Muslims, Jews and Christians, all aboard the hellfire train?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

Sure Allah will fill hell with people, but not any, those that deserve it. The creation of man is a natural consequence of God's mercy. After detailing the divine law of retribution on a nation of rejectors and saying how Allah only destroys it after it has become utterly corrupt 11:116-7 the Quran says that God could prevent such doom by forcing mankind to be a single nation, united in truth. However, people will keep differing regarding the Truth 11:118 and that is because, as a natural consequence of freedom of choice

92:4"Your striving is most surely (directed to) various (ends)".

Allah then states that those who are united owe it to His mercy, and all mankind has been created for that goal: to receive God's mercy

11:119"and for this did He create them"

or as the Psalmist says in the HB

Ps144:9"The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are on all His works".

Mercy is a particular attribute of God, described as being "written" upon God's self 6:12,54. None of the other divine attributes have been described with this expression "kataba ala nafsihi". This statement is meant to emphasize that Allah is merciful but also that Allah made mercy a self imposed mandate upon himself. When something is written, it conveys the sense that it is well established and solid. God is the Creator and Owner, Sustainer of the universe. He makes it function in accordance with the laws He likes and these laws are rooted in His mercy. He in addition decided to inform His servants of that self imposed commitment, yet He owes them nothing. The prophet portrayed that notion by paralleling a mother's love for her baby to God's love for His creation. While the companions were looking at a woman frantically searching for her child, the prophet said

"Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?" We replied, "No, if she has the power not to throw it (in the fire)." The Prophet then said, "Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son".

Another hadith demonstrates how, if Allah were to create anything to make it enter into one of the abodes of the hereafter, it would be to make it enter paradise 

"The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(The people will be thrown into Hell ( Fire) and it will keep on saying, 'Is there any more?' till the Lord of the worlds puts His Foot over it, whereupon its different sides will come close to each other, and it will say, 'Qad! Qad! (enough! enough!) By Your 'Izzat (Honor and Power) and Your Karam (Generosity)!' Paradise will remain spacious enough to accommodate more people until Allah will create a new creation and let them dwell in the superfluous space of Paradise". 

These new creation could be the dwellers of hell that will eventually be admitted to paradise, or something else known to Allah.   

Divine mercy is thus hardwired into the teachings of the prophet and the Quranic revelation, even in those passages most quoted by Islam critics attempting to cast it as an evil and wantonly violent religion. There is simply no plausible way to understand the Quran in a manner bereft of mercy and compassion. An interesting parallel can be made with a statement from the Tanakh

Psalms89:3"a world which manifests Your loving kindness, You did build".

Giving requires a receiver. So God created human beings to be the recipients of His bounty, as said earlier, the creation of man is a natural consequence of God's mercy. He has brought mankind into existence and established a system of moral accountability it is therefore natural that He makes all necessary arrangements for a just retribution

41:2"A revelation from the Beneficent, the Merciful Allah".

Spiritual guidance is a natural consequence of this Mercy, despite most men being unworthy of it

43:5"shall We then turn away the reminder from you altogether because you are an extravagant people?".. 

But since Allah's mercy is contingent on man's initial willingness and openness to guidance, all people do not receive it automatically as stated in

11:118"and if your Lord had pleased, He would have certainly made people a single nation".

This forceful submission to the truth would negate freewill, as stated in many other places

13:11"surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition"  

7:156"and My mercy encompasses all things; so I will ordain it (specially) for those who guard (against evil) and pay the poor-rate, and those who believe in Our communications",

11:119 is a confirmation of this law of causality, that men will by nature always differ regarding the truth 11:118, with perspectives and opinions as varied as the ever-changing patterns and meanders in the sky 51:7-9. As the prophet reportedly said

"if you did not sin, Allah would replace you with people who would sin and they would seek forgiveness from Allah and He would forgive them".

Humans, as volitional creatures, will always be prone to intellectual dissension, especially in religious matters which God has decreed will never be a compulsion 2:253, leaving each one to choose his path freely after guidance has been clearly conveyed 2:213,10:19,42:14,21. Consequently to that decree or "word" by Allah there will inevitably be dissensions, people choosing the right and others the wrong, and who will then have to go through Hell for a prescribed time. The HB contains the same concept when it states that

Prov16:4"The LORD has made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil".

God has thus pre-ordained that the wicked will be led to painful suffering, not that they were from the onset made wicked and consequently punished for it. This is a very important nuance which very often those approaching an intricate text only to enforce their paradigms and draw their hasty conclusions, rarely pay attention to.

That is thus the meaning of "the word" and its "fulfillment" referred to in 11:119 and elsewhere

36:7,40:5-6,41:25,46:18,38:84-5"The truth then is and the truth do I speak: That I will most certainly fill hell with you and with those among them who follow you, all".

Allah will, according to His pre-ordained plan of causality in which He is in full control, fill hell with those creatures endowed with freewill who choose misguidance over guidance

"and the Word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled: "I will fill Hell with jinns and men all together".

This law of causality to which humans and jinn have been subjected to and that may lead them to either punishment or reward obeys to a simple common sense logic referred to in many places such as in 32:15-20 or

7:179"And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors; these are the heedless ones".

As stated in the second part of the verse, the category of people that have been made for hell are those who are heedless to their spiritual senses, not that they have been made from birth with those characteristics, meaning their final destination is nothing but a natural consequence of the spiritual condition they have brought upon their own selves. Their destination is a consequence of the spiritual condition they have brought upon their own selves. God did not will this finality for them, rather God created mankind for the purpose of worshiping Him 51:56. He has however willed for that worship to be the result of freewill, hence the inevitability of finding people on both ends of the spectrum. A holistic understanding of the Quran and the traditions does not allow for a deterministic view of creation, only an isolate and dogmatic approach does. The Quran places great emphasis on guidance as being a mercy sent by the Most Merciful to bring mankind to spiritual awareness. This link between divine mercy, guidance and the creation of mankind is eloquently portrayed in the opening verses of surah rahman.

In summary we can see how the traditions and the Quran interconnect. Humans are born with a state of moral neutrality, and capacity to recognize the divine presence. Before coming to this world, God, by virtue of His omniscience knew who would be in paradise or hell. He has made them for their respective abodes, because it is according to His decreed law of causality that eachone will reach a destination in the hereafter corresponding to his level of spiritual awareness, or lack thereof. God has decreed this law of causality, He sustains it or interrupts it at any point in a person's life, as seen with the example of the boy slain by Khidr. That is why God in the Quran is the indirect cause of all things, maintaining every aspect of the functioning of the universe. But God has not made these people righteous or sinners from the onset. No tradition or Quranic verse states so, hence all dead infants belonging in paradise, they are dead in a state of moral neutrality, neither righteous nor sinners, although some were made for hell. This means, as stated in 7:179, they have been made for the destination they will choose for themselves, through a system of causality established and allowed by God

"We were with the Prophet in a funeral procession, and he started scraping the ground with a small stick and said, "There is none amongst you but has been assigned a place (either) in Paradise and (or) in the Hell-Fire." The people said (to him), "Should we not depend upon it?" He said: carry on doing (good) deeds, for everybody will find easy such deeds as will lead him to his destined place". 

The prophet then recited sura 92 which encapsulates well the connection between willful causality and destination in the hereafter.

Apostate prophet incites the flames of hate; Abu lahab, who was it?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

The Quran has a clear pattern in its storytelling method. It only gives the information necessary in conveying its message. But its eloquence is such that, even if read in a complete vacuum, one can still derive most of the relevant side information, as was shown above and as can be seen in many passages such as the story of the youths in the cave.µ

As to Abu Lahab, the historical records have detailed how he misused his wealth, abused of his position when he was supposed to be in charge of the needy and what was his relation to the prophet.
He was a prominent personality in Meccan society, politically, ethnically and economically. He was in charge of the treasury of the Kaaba as implied in sura maun/107, which was called rifada. A greater part of the money received would go into his own pockets instead of being spent on orphans, the poor and the pilgrims. Especially through 4:2, the people are warned against mismanaging and abusing the property of the orphans under their care, because they would often substitute these orphans' properties for some worthless belongings. 

The calls of the prophet for lofty morals, and spiritual reform, the verses reestablishing the purpose of the Kaaba, reminding its custodians of their momentous responsibilities, all these admonitions directly threatened his interests. He inevitably rose to oppose the prophet in the most vicious way. Sura Humazah and some other suras portray his character. Just like Noah's son, Abraham's father and Lot's wife, Abu Lahab was mentionned to show that God's justice is not bound by race or lineage. Neither his being the prophet's uncle, nor his wealth 111:2 and social status will avail him anything in the Hereafter nor in this life when the prophecied punishement befalls him, as related in sura Lahab 111.

The idolators of Quraysh participated in the wars against the Muslims with great fervour but Abu Lahab's hostility and hatred towards Islam and Muhammad in particular were notoriously fierce. He is reported for example as having sent a man owing him money to confront the prophet in battle in exchange of his debt. However this scheme could not save him from death.

Many of his allies among the leaders of the Quraysh were killed in the battle of Badr, damaging his political influence. Then soon after, he was inflicted with small-pox and neither his associates nor his sons and other relatives would inquire after his health for fear of contagion. It was in this state of helplessness that he died and for many days his dead body rotted in the house. When his sons got tired of the taunts of people, they hired people to rid them of his corpse on Mecca's outskirts, covering it with stones and pebbles which were flung from a distance. Ironically, flinging stones at someone in those times was tantamount to cursing him.

The Quran says that in the Hereafter, every man's actions or sins will be made

17:13"to clinge to their necks".

These sins are pictured elsewhere like chains and shackles hanging by the necks 13:5,40:71 or fettered to the soul 6:70. This powerful image evokes man's sole and entire responsibility for the consequences of his deeds, bearing them with all of his body and soul as one inseperable unit. An interesting parallel can be drawn with similar HB statements, like in

Prov5:22"His iniquities shall trap the wicked man, and he shall be hanged with the ropes of his sin"

or again in

Lam1:14"My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have been hung on my neck".

Elsewhere the Quran uses the image of the sinner burdened with the heavy weight of his own sins

6:31,35:18"and if one weighed down by burden should cry for (another to carry) its burden, not aught of it shall be carried, even though he be near of kin".

Abu Lahab and his wife will not be spared such faith. The Quran mentions more particularly the case of those who, like Abu Lahab, misuse the wealth Allah granted them out of His grace, neglecting their duties towards the needy. They, like Abu Lahab, will have the weight of such sin to

3:180"clinge to their necks",

and Abu Lahab's wife who is said to be

111:4"the bearer of fuel"

ie the accomplice "fueling" the sin will also have, like her husband and every sinful human being

111:5"upon her neck a halter of strongly twisted rope".

Being the bearer of fuel also hints to the notion that in the hereafter, she will be fueling her own fire and that of her husband, feeding it and maintaining it.

Apostate prophet is a book critic; why naming Abu Lahab in the Quran?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

The most prominent evil personalities and groups of people, in the nations prophets and messengers were sent to, those whose behavior and rejection were most violent towards the prophetic message and the prophets themselves, were always pointed out by the prophets and scriptures of their specific time.

The prophets all of them, called for God's curse and punishement to be inflicted upon these people either in this world or the next, as well as the vindication of the righteous. The Quran sometimes mentions these opponents implicitly as in 44:47-50,74:11-27,91:12,96:9-19 or explicitly, as with Abu Lahab in Sura Lahab, but everytime, the exposition of their evil traits serves as a threat and warning to future people.

Among many Biblical similarities there is the case of the prophet David against Nabal and Doeg 1Sam25:39,Ps52, David's long-winded curse of Esau and his descendants

Ps109:8-15"May his days be few, and may someone else take his office of dignity. May his sons be orphans and his wife a widow. May his sons wander, and [people] should ask and search from their ruins..."

or the implicit mention of a group of people

Ps58:1-12"O God, smash their teeth in their mouth..Let them be rejected..The righteous man will rejoice because he saw revenge; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. And man will say, "Truly, the righteous man has reward; truly there is a God Who judges on earth".

Again a reference to a group of moral harassers and mockers upon whom David invokes God's curses Ps35:19-26. See also Ps63:9-12,69:22-29 or Ps137:8-9 in reference to the Babylonian oppressors

"Praiseworthy is he who will take and dash your infants against the rock"

or also Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar alternatively implied by the prophet Habakkuk who calls on God to destroy them throughout the chapter (Habakkuk2).

In the Quran, another instance of allusion to a contemporary of the prophet happens in 68:10-16, where an individual's evil, sinful traits are exposed. This teaches the audience and readers at all times, to be wary from such a person, whether those contemporaries to him who will recognize the depictions made of him or from anyone bearing those immoral characteristics

"Do not at all yield to any mean swearer of many oaths, who is a slanderer and a backbiter, a hinderer of good and a transgressor, utullin/(connoting bad tempered, vengeful, coarse in manners, and shameless), and above all zanim/(connoting one known for his ignobleness and meanness. It is also used for those whose descent is unknown, which doesnt apply in this case to ibn al Mughirah who is implied here), only because he has abundance of wealth and children. When Our Revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are tales of the ancient times." Soon We shall brand him on the snout".

Because he thought he was a man of high prestige, his nose has been called a snout, and

"branding him on the snout"

is a double disgrace, physical and psychological. The same idea is repeated elsewhere, addressing those to whom outward appearance is everything, and how the scorching wind of Hell destroys the skin, leaving nothing but ugliness on that most precious part of these people's selves. In the Hebrew Bible, with immense despise, God addresses Sennacherib of Assyria through the prophet Isaiah

2Kings19:28"I will place my ring in your nose and My bit in your lips".

See also Isa37:29 or Ps3:8 all speaking of severe and humiliating disfigurement of the wicked, a metonym for utter abasement.

The prophet, at the onset of his mission and later on had many opponents who took up arms against him and rejected him but none of them came close to Abu Lahab. It was his own uncle whose level of hatred did not spare neither the prophetic mission, its principles and the personality of the prophet himself which the rest of his enemies rarely attacked.

There is also an element of sarcasm in naming him. Abu Lahab is a nickname given to him in pre-Islamic times, to symbolize many positive and sought after traits of him; lahab is a beautiful red flickering flame and Abu Lahab was a handsome man who in addition had a reddish skin complexion. He was a wealthy, aristocratic celebrity who was the grandson of the Hashemites, the most prominent clan of Quraysh. His own wife, nicknamed umm jamil for her beauty, was likewise of high family nobility, being the granddaughter of Umaya, the other most important Qurayshi clan. Why does God call him by that nickname that evoked many positive aspects in his society? Simply to mean that just as he desired to be known after the fire, so shall his name primarily evoke fire until eternity, but not the fire of beauty, the fire of chastisement

"Perished both hands of Abu Lahab...he shall have to endure a fire fiercely glowing/LAHABIN". 

The meaning of the short sura is that Abu Lahab was an evil man, he and his wife, that they were influential in a harmful way as alluded with the "breaking" of the "hands". The hands are a metonym of power, deeds and their outcome, influence and even accomplices in Classical Arabic. The Quraysh elite were those accomplices, killed 2 years later in Badr, followed by Abu Lahab himself 2 weeks later from illness. In the same manner and sense, Ezekiel prophecied how the arms of Pharaoh will be "broken" while those of the king of Babylon will be "strengthened" Ezek30:22-5. David spoke of God's destroying the unrighteous' power with the following words

Ps37:17"the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous".

Abu Lahab and his wife amassed a lot of wealth hence the sura's association of their possessions with their inevitable doom. However we are told that this wealth will be useless to save them from the punishement in the hereafter. The sura is in short an illustration of the Quranic principle that no earthly power can upset God's plans and no bargaining with any kind of wealth will be possible to escape due justice.

Apostate prophet in no prophet's land; when do prophets prophecy?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

All of Muhammad, and any other prophet practices and utterances cannot be automatically assumed as divinely inspired, and the Quran itself sometimes disapproves of some of Muhammad's deeds and words 66:1,80:1-10. The same is the case of other prophets, including as eminent as Ibrahim who, despite of being an illustrious example to emulate, immitating him does not include all aspects of his life deeds 60:4. That is why the Quran repeatedly announces obedience to the messenger instead of 'Muhammad', albeit they are the same person. The 'message' remained connected to the 'messenger' and it was in this capacity of the 'messenger' that Muhammad needed to be obeyed. The Prophet forbade Muslims to write down anything other than the Quran. And effectively, the traditions weren't compilled until centuries following his death. The reason was that he used to make statements and deal with people in different ways that were the result of particular circumstances, which narrators might believe to be of universal and permanent bearing. From divine knowledge, the prophet Muhammad had only access to what His Lord granted him 6:50,7:203,72:26-7. That knowledge took the form of a divine scripture to

16:64"make clear to them that about which they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe".

Muhammad believed

7:158"in Allah and His words (the Quran)" this is why Allah tells us to "follow him so that you may be guided".

To follow Muhammad means to follow what was sent to him from signs and/or revelation

7:157"and follow the light which has been sent down with him".

This reflects in the hypothetical scenario of a people not having received a messenger, complaining that had they had one in their midst, then they would have followed God's signs, not necessarily the messenger

28:47,20:134"..O our Lord! Why did You not send to us a messenger so we would have followed YOUR SIGNS (not the messengers) before we were humiliated and disgraced?".

Again with the example of the qiblah, we are told to only follow Muhammad in what Allah has commanded him

2:143"and We did not make the Qiblah that you observed in the past except that We know who follows the messenger from the one who turns back upon his heels".

It is very compelling to read how the Quran says that it is itself the best hadith.

39:23"Allah has revealed the best HADITH, a book conformable in its various parts, repeating, whereat do shudder the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of Allah; this is Allah's guidance, He guides with it whom He pleases; and (as for) him whom Allah makes err, there is no guide for him"  

45:6"These are the communications of Allah which We recite to you with truth; then in what HADITH would they believe after Allah and His communications".

Anything besides that best hadith, Allah tells us that the rightly guided are those people who use their brains and reflect over them, following only the best and discarding what is inapplicable or that contradicts the Quran

39:18"Those who listen to the word (qawl or saying), then follow the best of it; those are they whom Allah has guided, and those it is who are the men of understanding".

The Quran contains such warning because

31:6"of men is he who takes instead frivolous hadith to lead astray from Allah's path without knowledge, and to take it for a mockery".

These verses warning to keep the best hadith and discard all frivolous and counterproductive talks, useless and misleading narratives, provide clear evidence that idle tales were even being disseminated at the Prophet's time. If this was then already a problem reaching such levels that the Quran had to correct it, then how much worse did the problem potentially manifest after the prophet's death? It further tells us to investigate thoroughly any information of importance related by an untrustworthy source 49:6. Muslims are not required to accept whatever rumor and report is disseminated about their prophet or on his behalf, no matter who the narrator is. If the Quran itself plainly corrects its messenger in every day life, besides the prophet himself admitting to making mistakes in common affairs, how much so should one be prudent when deciding on the truthfulness of a story? Neither does the Quran request the outright dismissal of the report based on the unreliability of the source. It simply advises caution in the authentication process of the narration itself which doesnt only include reliability of the transmitor but also of the information in light of certain established facts. For example all ahadith on a particular subject should be gathered together to form a better picture and establish a pattern, which will then become a criterion of authenticity.

That is just common sense for anyone with a slightest spark of intellectual honesty, seeking to interject into a discussion occuring centuries ago, reported differently, through various angles and people in each repetition within a vast corpus. This opens the way to the possibility that the source might be telling the truth despite its untrustworthiness. Hadith scholars mostly stress on scrutinizing the narrator and do not give much importance to scrutinizing the content of the report. It should also be noted, a few verses down in 49:12 it warns not to harbour ill thoughts of others who have not shown through their words or deeds any misapropriateness or imorality. People should first and foremost think well of one another, abandon the kind of outright suspicion and ill founded inquisitiveness (with harmful objectives).

Apostate prophet misunderstands revelation; God turns prophets into geniuses?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

The Quran never came to correct the prophet's worldviews in terms of knowledge of nature and general causality, neither of his contemporaries but rather guide him and the rest of humanity through him, to the most complete, advanced human spiritual knowledge

"The Messenger of Allah and I passed by some people who were at the top of their date palms. He said: “What are these people doing?” They said: “They are pollinating them, putting the male with the female so that it will be pollinated.” The Messenger of Allah said: “I do not think that it is of any use.” They were told about that, so they stopped doing it. The Messenger of Allah was told about that and he said: “If it benefits them, let them do it. I only expressed what I thought. Do not blame me for what I say based on my own thoughts, but if I narrate something to you from Allah, then follow it, for I will never tell lies about Allah, may He Glorified and Exalted is He.” He continued in another version "You know better about your worldly affairs".

The divine protection  therefore only pertained to the Quran which is the source of that perfect spiritual knowledge. The prophet was "uswa hasana" in his application of the Quran, just as following Jesus' way, as he is quoted saying in the NT, meant following his footsteps in his application of the Torah. This phrase in no way implies that he was a perfect creation. The prophet was not uswa hasana in how he ate, slept or saw the nature around him. Anyone is free to imitate his lifestyle and adopt his worldviews as found in extra Quranic writings, if one finds any personal benefits in doing so but that isn't a religious requirement nor relevant to it, and that is explicitly stated in the Quran itself.

With that in mind, when the prophet made deductions as related in the ahadith, pertaining to his natural environement, general causality and basic observation of certain phenomenon, it is only expected from him that they would fit what the ancients of his time would find "plausible". These views however, right or wrong, no matter how extraordinary they might seem in light of our current knowledge, have no bearing on the Quran itself, which is again, pledged to be fully protected. It would have been interesting to have had written records of how the previous prophets saw the world, as we have with Muhammad, and see who among them held the most "unscientific" personal views.

There are many examples to be extracted from the ahadith, most of them inappropriately derided and misunderstood by modern people, although none of them are falsifiable and even if proven wrong, as said above, have no bearing on the Quran itself.

As said above, just as Muhammad was uswa hasana, Ibrahim and the believers in his nations are called uswa hasana 60:4-6 and to follow the prophet 3:31 means to follow the revelation sent to him 6:106,33:2. Muhammad and the Muslims are told to follow the way of Ibrahim, this can only be achieved through the Quran which is the reminder of his way 16:123,4:125,3:95. It was indeed the Quran that guided Muhammad to the way of Ibrahim 6:161. The Quran also says to follow the pious, humble believers 31:15 and this again only means to follow them in their obedience to Allah's commands, in their belief in His revelation because

6:116"if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah's way; they follow but conjecture and they only lie".

The rules of salaat for example were handed down from the prophet orally and were not written in any book, this is the sunnah or inherited practice, his detailing of what is mentioned in general terms in the Quran

16:44"and We have revealed to you the Reminder that you may make clear to men what has been revealed to them".

  The prophetic sunna is thus the manner in which the prophet applied the timeless ordinances of the Quran in his own time and place. It does not necessarily include his personal likes and dislikes, or particular recommendations which in the vast majority of cases the prophet himself never claimed were inspired. He gently declined eating a roasted lizard out of personal taste, leaving those around him to freely eat as they wished.

Certain of his own standards of body hygiene, like trimming the mustache, letting the beard grow, using the toothstick, sniffing water into the nose, clipping the nails, washing the knuckles, removing hair from the underarms, shaving pubic hair, cleaning the private parts with water, rinsing the mouth etc, or the manner he slept, ate or dressed, all reflected the needs, culture and manners of a specific time in history.

Apostate prophet insists; Muhammad was a perfect creation?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

This youtuber wants to know, hes struggling and doesnt understand what is uswa hasana. This phrase in no way implies that the prophet was a perfect creation.

Many verses urge him and those with him to seek God's forgiveness for shortcomings and the prophet used to implore God daily to be protected from sins. The prophet was divinely protected, like all prophets before him in relation to the revelation he was to transmit faithfully. But in everyday affairs, the messengers, who are still humans endowed with freewill and thus the potential, if not to sin due to their heightened level of spiritual awareness, to make mistakes, they are left to their own devices in their everyday lives to fight off the assaults of evil forces. No prophet was in a constant state of communication with the divine realm.

The hadith and Quran itself speak of long periods where revelation had stopped, and the subsequent tauntings of his enemies on the issue, the questions of his followers and his anxious anticipation. The prophet is for instance reported, as a reflection of his all too often humble character, to have said

"I am only human like you; I forget as you forget. If I forget, then remind me".

This comes in the context of a mistake which he had done during prayer, inadvertently shortening it, apparently angry with himself as he suspected the mistake, then humbly accepting the correction from the attendance which confirmed his thought

"The Prophet (peace be upon him) meanwhile, stood by a piece of wood placed in the mosque, leaning against it, as if he was angry. So a man stood and said, 'O Messenger of Allah, have you forgotten or has the prayer been reduced?' So the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said, 'I did not forget nor has it been reduced.' So the man said, 'Rather you have indeed forgotten.' So the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the Companions, 'Is what he is saying true?' They said 'Yes' So the Prophet (peace be upon him) went forward and prayed what remained of the prayer, then he gave the salutation, then he prostrated twice, then he gave the salutation".

The prophet did not forget the Quran. He forgot, momentarily like any one with a memory lapse, certain passages. That is irrelevant to the issue of Quran preservation. When these memory lapses occured, the Quran had already been transmitted, in both oral and written form. Hence even regular members of the community, not even renouned memorizers, correcting the prophet's recital. As is explicit in the Quran, the divine protection of the carriers of the revelation pertains strictly to the revelation itself. But in everyday affairs, the messengers, who are still humans endowed with freewill and thus the potential, if not to sin due to their heightened level of spiritual awareness, to make mistakes, they are left to their own devices in their everyday lives to fight off the assaults of evil forces.

Apostate prophet defends Christians; who deceived them?

In answer to the video "Allah is Merciless"

4:157-158 then states that those who differ on what is stated in the verse about Jesus not having being killed are in shakkin/suspicion about that very statement. It then goes on to say why Christians entertain shakkin/suspicion about the Quranic statement that Jesus was not killed: they have formed a wrong conclusion about events that they themselves had no knowledge about and are following nothing but a conjecture, started by those Bani Israel contemporaries and enemies of Jesus. Some claimed to have killed him and others that they crucified him yet they had no body to prove their lies, no trace of Jesus was ever found.

This devastating defeat was retrospectively written as a divinely planned victory since before the universe's creation. IT was then put in writing by several unknown authors whom nobody knows, who attributed their works to Jesus' close disciples yet these disciples are reported to have fled the scene at Jesus' arrest. Add to this the fact that not even a single historian exists, attesting to the wonderful and cataclysmic events surrounding the crucifiction that were allegedly witnessed by an entire city. The NT itself testifies to the fact that his close circle, let alone the rest of his followers never approached the dead body and could not therefore burry it.

Throughout Jesus' ministry Allah defeated his enemies' conspiracies to allow him the fullfilment of his mission. Whether from the moment his remarkable prophetic experience began while still an infant, until he attained the peak of his physical maturity toward the end of his ministry, he was in Allah's protection

3:46,5:110"and when I withheld the children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear arguments".

The term kahl refers to a middle aged man whose hair is beginning to turn gray. It is used for what is believed to be the ideal physical age of a man, defined as anywhere between 30 and 50 years. The scholars of Christianity since very early times have given all sorts of ages for Jesus' lifespan, from 33 years to 50 years. This is mainly due to the many difficult and inconsistent historical data present in the Gospels.

When his time finally came and the transmission of his message fulfilled, Allah saved him from the hands of his enemies by lifting him up. Jesus was not sent on a suicide mission and neither did he want to purposefully die as a human offering, something God explicitly abhors in both the HB, which he upheld to the letter as well as his early followers after him, and the Quran.

According to Islam, Jesus therefore succeeded 100% in conveying the message he was meant to convey. His mission was deep, intricate, far reaching and much more elaborate, pertinent, consistent and beautiful than what is attributed to him by the Greek authors. By relating the essential landmarks of his prophetic mission as well as the basis of the message he was commanded to faithfully transmit, saved his honor both physically and spiritually. It clears him of all slanders by his contemporaries and those that followed, as well as from the false teachings attributed to him that corrupted his message. It is ironic that Christians see Jesus in Islam as a failed prophet or fabricated figure, when it is they that depict him as such; from his humiliating ending at the hands of his opponents, to his teachings that were misappropriated and assimilated into the religion of a pagan entity, or the fabricated events in his life that dont stand to historical scrutiny, and the theological implications of his mission that are irreconcilable with the HB which is supposed to foreshadow Christianity.

This painstaking, sketchy endeavour is the result of Christians attempting to reconstruct Jesus as a heroic figure after his death, just as pagans in those times deified their dead emperors or called the living ruler "son of god", creating events that did not happen; Jesus' pre-existence, his co-creation of the universe with God, his miraculous birth, miracles, arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, post-resurrection appearances, and reunion with God his Father were all the inventions of story tellers trying to restrospectively fit Jesus within both the Jewish messianic tradition and the writers' own greco-roman religious background. Islam, the religion of all prophets is a religion of success. Unlike the meaningless, devastating, disgraceful, helpless death of the invented central figure of Christianity, neither Muhammad nor Jesus were failures.

Whether Jesus' message survived now or not is irrelevant. The success of a prophet's mission of being the faithful conveyor of his God's message is independant of whether his addressees hearken his calls, mend their ways, preserve his message or attempt to kill him. All prophets attest to this reality. Prophets are not sent to cause forceful spiritual reform. Their duty is only to deliver the warnings and glad tidings, as here stated by the prophet Hud

11:57"But if you turn back, then indeed I have delivered to you the message with which I have been sent to you, and my Lord will bring another people in your place, and you cannot do Him any harm; surely my Lord is the Preserver of all things". 

It is then up to the people themselves to hearken the calls and act accordingly. If they do it is for their own benefit, if not it is their own loss. Both outcomes have no bearing on the truthfulness of a prophet or the accomplishment of his mission.

Jesus was then honored and purified from the false charges of the disbelievers meaning his close entourage and few followers were informed of the truth about his last moments on earth, and his followers were later granted dominion over them

3:55"O Isa, I am going to terminate the period of your stay (mutawaffika) and cause you to ascend unto Me and purify you of those who disbelieve and make those who follow you above those who disbelieve to the day of resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning that in which you differed".